The USDA Prospective Plantings and Quarterly Grain Stocks reports are giving markets fresh direction, with acreage and supply figures coming in near expectations but still influencing early trade. Van Ahn and Company analyst Kristi Van Ahn says corn acreage topped estimates while soybean acres declined slightly. “High corn acres, 95.338 compared to the estimate of 94.37. So about a million acres higher than the anticipated corn number.” Van Ahn says grain stocks also point to ample supplies, especially for corn. “Really close expectations all around, and close expectations is pretty much just telling you that we have more grain around here than a year ago. Looking at corn, we have 877 million more bushels than we had a year ago, and demand has been hot, but we just have to keep that in mind not to be such a gut check moving forward consistently for corn is that that production that we have the pressure for corn was so large it’s going to take a while to chew through.”
